All Quiet On The Western Front

1870 words - 8 pages

"All Quiet On The Western Front" An examination of the horror and futility of war in ?All Quiet On The Western Front" as shown through three main areas; setting, character, and style."All Quiet On The Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque is a powerful portrayal of life in the German trenches during World War one. The story tells us of a group of classmates who decide to join the army at the age of nineteen, and follows their exploits during their time in the war. The story has a very strong sense of comradeship and emphasizes the futility of war which telling a tale full of death and horror, but is lightened by amusing anecdotes which lightened life in the trenches.The majority of the ...view middle of the document...

Through the detail of the uniform, this description also provides a strong contrast between what could be considered to be extremely weak actions, and the order and discipline enforced by the army, yet this man is merely another fatality added to the previous millions. The atmosphere of futility is enhanced quite significantly through the word choice used here, we are clearly shown how this living, breathing, thinking man has been reduced to mere dead flesh. This provides a strong sense of reality attached to death and highlights the true loss suffered. Through this description we can almost personally experience this sight, which adds significantly to the atmosphere of waste, as we were introduced to this person, yet his life has ended so very suddenly afterwards.Another example of the extent of fatalities suffered, is further in the text, when we are told of the officer's cook who has prepared food for one hundred and fifty men, yet when the soldiers return, he refuses to serve them until the rest appear, as only eighty men are present, the other sixty men have either been seriously injured, or have died. This news has quite a strong effect on the cook; he is staggered, and disconcerted. We gain the feeling that the cook, as he deals with the number of rations, has a greater sense of the tragedy, whereas the soldiers find that the amount dead is merely a number. The author has used this event very effectively. In conveying the losses suffered the author highlights the way in which the soldiers have been toughened by their experiences at war which seen to be too terrible to contemplate, yet this reveals a stronger will to survive in such a futile war.The author effectively also uses the characters within the story to reveal this sense of futility to the reader. The most prominent example is the reaction of one of the friends, Tjaden, who as it seems, is completely aware of their current situation, yet behaves in quite an apathetic, and carefree manner This is very obvious when he is told by the cook that the entire group must be present before anyone can be served: "You must all be here first", Tjaden grinned, "we are all here" It seems that despite, their losses, Tjadens? attitude is one of joy, this could be perhaps out of gratitude of still being alive, or simply that the enormous losses results in a greater ration for him, we find it quite strange that he should grin at this time, and be so casual about their situation, this is enhanced further, when he explains where the rest of the men are: "Either in the dressing station or pushing up daisies" The author has used this event very effectively in showing the necessary attitudes required in order for survival during trench warfare. This example clearly shows the change undertaken by humans in this situation, Tjadens' behaviour is far more extreme in comparison to the other soldiers' opinions, as he shows an acceptance to the inevitability of losses of life at war in comparison to the others...

Other Essays Like ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

1279 words - 6 pages
An author's view of human behavior is often reflected in their
works. The novels All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria
Remarque and Lord of the Flies by William Golding are both examples of
works that demonstrate their author's view of man, as well his opinion
of war.
Golding's Lord of the Flies is highly demonstrative of Golding's
opinion that society is a thin and fragile veil that when removed
shows man for what he

1440 words - 6 pages
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein shows how the change in society has an effect
on people. But they both take different methods of showing it. All
Quiet on the Western Front shows how war takes the lives of others and
the effects on people during the war.Frankenstein, even though it is
fictional

415 words - 2 pages
This story is set is in the German army during World War I and uses un-familiar terms in view of the fact that it was translated from German to English by A. W. WHEEN.(In light of this, please study the following Vocabulary BEFORE you began reading.) Answer all of the following questions at the end of each chapter.Unfamiliar Vocabulary English or familiar meaning Perambulator Baby carriage Apoplexy Sudden loss of bodily

524 words - 3 pages
The Development of a Stalemate on the Western Front
A stalemate is when two forces meet and neither side can advance any
further, all they can do is dig in and hold their ground. In the
context of world war 1 it was when the French and German sides dug in
extremely well designed trenches stretching over 400 miles from
English channel all the across to the Swiss border, creating a very
much defence based war.
There

808 words - 4 pages
The amount of change in the conditions on the Western Front was minor compared to the amount of continuity. The Industrial Revolution along with mass production may have led these changes in the technology of warfare to take place. Throughout the war, it had been incredibly difficult to attack the enemy without having a substantial number of casualties from your own side. This was made no easier with the cutting-edge inventions that had been

931 words - 4 pages
than before. Soldiers are often referred to as “lions lead by donkeys” which seems entirely appropriate as they have the bravery to follow nonsensical orders. These weak attack and counter-attack strategies were seen during one of the major battles at the Western Front: the Battle of Verdun. The French won as they had higher ground however it was mainly an artillery battle as approximately 40 million artillery shells were utilized, leaving behind

993 words - 4 pages
What challenges do organizations face on the organizational behavior front in the age of globalization?
Firms are constantly changing their business model and organizational behavior to adapt to changing market forces. How business is conducted today is markedly different from prior decades due to technological advances and a change in the workforce population. Some of these sweeping business trends positively affect companies, while other

9086 words - 37 pages
dependence on America to pay for its massive military power over its neighbors makes Israel firmly pro-Western. On the other hand, the forced expulsion of Palestinians by Israel has created a source of resistance in the region that threatens to disturb U.S. relations with Arab states.Following the Second World War, as the U.S. attempted to expand its supremacy over the Gulf States, Washington viewed Israel as an ally, but only as one among many

1290 words - 6 pages
ï»¿
China and India: The Influence of Western Trends on Their Youth
BUS330: Principles of Marketing (DCJ1523A)
June 22, 2015
Over the past ten years, some foreign countries have adopted many trends from western style. Foreign brands are held in high regard in China and India. These are two major countries whose youth enjoy western style. In this, there are many different products that could be offered and sold by marketers

3922 words - 16 pages
CELE Project 2010
Buket Gültekin
2107226
Ten weeks
MSc Work and Organizational Psychology
Permission given to use this project
Word count: 2916
Effects of Culture on Behaviours of Leaders and Followers: The Western and Eastern Countries from Hofstede’s Perspective
27 August 2010
Abstract
Internationalization has generated a need to be aware of other parts of the world and other cultures. Leaders with distinctive prevailing

658 words - 3 pages
perceived them as.The Holocaust challenged the Western Tradition by the simple fact that people knew what was going on and decided to ignore it, hoping it would go away. This attitude only escalated the problem at hand. It also proved to the world that it was impossible to blame Germany for World War I in its entirety, and that resulted in a grudge and hard times. It made the governments begin to think about how they should address problems within the

Related Papers

638 words - 3 pages
All Quiet on the Western Front Chapter 9 6+1Traits
In Chapter 9 of the book, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul, the main character discovers things not only about himself, but about the war itself. Paul learns that he must listen to his conscience and not regret things that he has done while attending in the war. Also, Paul learns that no matter how hard the war may be, he must always fight for his country and for

999 words - 4 pages
RyanMcWhinnie Specialist study All Quiet on the Western front I selected "All Quiet on the Western front" by Erich Maria Remarque as my specialist study because I am very interested in history and war stories and I found this book to be of great value in aiding my history studies as well as English.In "All quiet on the Western front" Erica Maria Remarque conveys the theme of futility of war through his

1066 words - 5 pages
“All Quiet on the Western Front” is a novel written by Erich Maria Remarque. It is a war novel that tells the story of a young man and his experiences in combat during World War I. The title of the novel roots from a phrase used to describe the silence between shellings and infantry attacks during the battles fought on the western front ( Text, 895 ). Although World War I was a very real event, the testaments of the main

1618 words - 7 pages
training. The group of men may not have enjoyed the results of the pranks, but they were in much better shape than before, and being in better shape is always a good thing in war.
Paul Baümer, the main character of All Quiet on the Western Front, was a philosophy-based person who enjoyed his quaint little life. A majority of people who live a life like Paul need to alter their personality a little if they enlist in the military. Corporal